CHICAGO -- The Detroit Tigers are not a perfect team. They have some bullpen issues. They have not made a huge leap forward defensively. They don't have as much power as they had last season.

But they are still the odds-on favorites to win the American League Central Division. The reason is starting pitching.

The Tigers have it. Three of the other four teams in the division do not.

Baseball is a complex game. No one statistic -- not even wins and losses -- tells the entire story about which team is better than which. But starting pitching is a good place to start the discussion. Despite the stops and starts, the off days and the weather issues, it's been so far, so good for the Tigers rotation this season.

Brad Ausmus

"It's really kind of been as predicted -- very good," Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said Wednesday after Max Scherzer threw six shutout innings in a 5-1 win over the Chicago White Sox. "With
very few exceptions, the starters have come out of the game giving us a
chance to win. You can't ask for much more than that."

There are reasons for the relative struggles of the rotations for some of the other Central Division teams. The White Sox have been hurt by the loss of left-hander Chris Sale. The Cleveland Indians have had multiple pitchers fall short of expectations so far this season. But a look at the raw numbers shows just how good the Tigers have been thus far, as well as how bad the White Sox, Indians and Minnesota Twins have been.

Rotation ERA (rank in AL)

2.98 -- Detroit (2nd)

3.10 -- Kansas City (3rd)

4.82 -- Cleveland (13th)

5.10 -- Chicago (14th)

6.08 -- Minnesota (15th)

Rotation WHIP (rank in AL)

1.17 -- Kansas City (3rd)

1.21 -- Detroit (4th)

1.46 -- Cleveland (12th)

1.50 -- Chicago (14th)

1.64 -- Minnesota (15th)

Rotation opponents' batting average (rank in AL)

.239 -- Detroit (4th)

.239 -- Kansas City (5th)

.275 -- Chicago (11th)

.277 -- Cleveland (13th)

.307 -- Minnesota (15th)

Those numbers are the main reason the Tigers have led or been tied or the lead in the division every day this season, despite an up-and-down offense, a struggling bullpen and an ever-changing schedule with too many off days and weather postponements.

"We
were kind of adjusting on the fly with the weather," Ausmus said. "My gut tells me that
a lot of these starters are going to be a lot happier once they return
to a regular baseball five-man rotation schedule."

According to the "playoff odds report" updated daily by Baseball Prospectus, the Tigers (through Tuesday) had a 74.8 percent chance to make the playoffs. That's the highest number of any American League team, ahead of the Oakland A's (63.5 percent), the Los Angeles Angels (56.8 percent) and the New York Yankees (55.8 percent).

The Tigers' number is higher in part because they play in a division that is perceived to be weaker than the others. According to Baseball Prospectus, the Tigers have a 66.0 percent chance to win their division. That number is way higher than the ones for current division leaders Oakland (39.5 percent) and New York (35.6 percent).

How have individual Tigers starters fared so far? Look at the numbers. Scherzer is 3-1 with a 2.08 ERA and a 1.05 WHIP. Opponents are batting just .213 against him. He has 51 strikeouts in 39 innings pitched.

Justin Verlander is 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA this season.AP File Photo

Justin Verlander is 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA. Opponents have batted just .183 against Anibal Sanchez, who struck out 24 in 23 innings before a blister sent him to the disabled list. Rick Porcello has a solid 1.12 WHIP and an sub-4.00 ERA. Drew Smyly pitched extremely well in the most recent of his two starts.

In the meantime, the White Sox have already used nine starters -- nine! -- and four of those nine have ERAs above 6.00. The good news for the Twins is that they have used just five starters. The bad news is four of the five have ERAs above 5.00. Outside of Zach McAllister and a flash of brilliance in one start by Corey Kluber, the rotation for the Indians has been disappointing.

That leaves the Royals, who have posted some pretty impressive numbers themselves thanks to James Shields, Jason Vargas and rookie Yordano Ventura.

Yes, the Tigers' bullpen needs work. It is true that the defense is not as good as many had hoped. Yes, Tigers fans want to see them win a World Series and not simply win the Central Division. These are obvious points for another day.

Today is May 1, not October 1. The only thing the Tigers can do in the regular season is put themselves in position to win it all by making the playoffs. The Central Division standings have been bunched up this season. On many days, just a couple of games separated first from last place. But there will eventually be a bit of separation. The numbers say the Tigers have the clear advantage over three of the four opponents in their division based on their rotation.

The only team that's even close when it comes to starting pitching is the Royals, who will host the Tigers in a three-game series starting Friday. Could be an interesting series.